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Provoke vs Accuse - What's the difference?

provoke | accuse |

As verbs the difference between provoke and accuse

is that provoke is to cause someone to become annoyed or angry while accuse is .

provoke

English

Verb

(provok)
  • to cause someone to become annoyed or angry.
    • Don't provoke the dog; it may try to bite you.
  • * Bible, Eph. vi. 4
    • Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
  • to bring about a reaction.
  • * J. Burroughs
    • To the poet the meaning is what he pleases to make it, what it provokes in his own soul.
  • *{{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=November 12 , author= , title=International friendly: England 1-0 Spain , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Spain were provoked into a response and Villa almost provided a swift equaliser when he rounded Hart but found the angle too acute and could only hit the side-netting.}}
  • (obsolete) To appeal.
    • (Dryden)

    Synonyms

    * (bring about a reaction) bring about, discompose, egg on, engender, evoke, grill, incite, induce, inflame, instigate, invoke, rouse, set off, stir up, whip up

    Derived terms

    * provocation * provocative

    Related terms

    * provocateur

    accuse

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Verb

    (accus)
  • To find fault with, to blame, to censure.
  • * (rfdate) (Epistle to the Romans) 2:15,
    • Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another.
  • * (rfdate) ,
    • We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms.
  • To charge with having committed a crime or offence.
  • * (rfdate) (Acts of the Apostles) 24:13,
    • Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.
  • To make an accusation against someone.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.}}

    Usage notes

    * (legal) When used this way accused is followed by the word of . * Synonym notes: To accuse , charge, impeach, arraign: these words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrongdoing. ** To accuse'' is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to ''accuse of treason. ** Charge'' is the most generic. It may refer to a crime, a dereliction of duty, a fault, etc.; more commonly it refers to moral delinquencies; as, to ''charge with dishonesty or falsehood. ** To arraign'' is to bring (a person) before a tribunal for trial; as, to ''arraign one before a court or at the bar public opinion. ** To impeach'' is officially to charge with misbehavior in office; as, to ''impeach a minister of high crimes. ** Both impeach'' and ''arraign convey the idea of peculiar dignity or impressiveness.

    Synonyms

    * (legal) charge, indict, impeach, arraign * () blame, censure, reproach, criminate

    Related terms

    * accusable * accusation * accusative * accusatory * accuser

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) An accusation.
    • (Shakespeare)

    External links

    * * * English reporting verbs ----